In the next seven days of the heroin epidemic, at least 180 people in Greater Cincinnati will overdose and 18 will die. Babies will be born to addicted mothers. Parents will go to jail. Children will end up in foster care. This is normal now.

This Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2017 photo shows an arrangement of pills of the opioid oxycodone-acetaminophen in New York. Abuse of painkillers, heroin, fentanyl and other opioids across the country has resulted in tens of thousands of children being taken from their homes and placed in the foster care system. (AP Photo/Patrick Sison) ORG XMIT: NY541(Photo: Patrick Sison, AP)

Hamilton County Commissioners passed a resolution Wednesday to hire a special counsel to pursue civil litigation against wholesale opioid distributors and manufacturers who have played a role in causing and creating the opioid and heroin epidemic currently facing the county.

The resolution, passed unanimously by all three commissioners, authorizes the county's prosecutor and administrator to employ Paul T. Farrell, Jr. of Farrell, Bailey, & Tweel and his litigation partners.

Commissioner Denise Driehaus, said 193 other jurisdictions in the country have engaged Farrell for his services, including Clermont County and Cincinnati. The city sued three opioid distributors in federal court last August.

The commissioners would not comment on which opioid manufacturers or distributors might be sued.

The special counsel was hired on a contingent fee basis, meaning there is no cost to the county if the suit is unsuccessful.

"If we don't do this, we will have no ability to recover the cost to taxpayers that we are incurring already in fighting the scourge of the heroin epidemic," said commission president Todd Portune.

The commissioners cited how the over-prescription of opioids and the heroin crisis has led to an increased need for law enforcement, increased cases in the court system, overcrowding in the Hamilton County jail, and more children placed in the foster care system.

The Hamilton County Heroin Coalition has taken steps in recent years to stem the flow of overdoses and provide resources for people addicted to heroin and opioids.

Hamilton County Commissioner Denise Driehaus speaks during a news conference to announce a program and pilot study in Hamilton County to more than quadruple distribution of the opioid overdose-reversing drug Narcan to 30,000 units in nasal spray form, Thursday, Sept. 7, 2017, in Cincinnati. Attorney General Mike DeWine and representatives of the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, BrightView Health and Adapt Pharma plan to dramatically expand availability of the drug in the southwest Ohio county stricken by increases in synthetic opioid abuse. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)(Photo: John Minchillo, AP)

The coalition, chaired by Driehaus, partners with hospitals and nonprofits around the county. Driehaus said $4 million has been spent by the coalition.

Hamilton County boosted its Narcan doses by 400 percent last year to provide a steady supply for jails, syringe exchange programs, emergency departments and faith-based groups.

The state of Ohio ranked second behind only West Virginia in overdose deaths for 2016.